Steve’s road/gravel bike

Mostly I am a proponent of having one bike for each application. But sometimes it makes sense to combine functionality, and aim for the minimum of compromise when doing so. In this case, Steve asked if we could do a bike that could be both a road bike and a gravel bike. We settled on using two sets of wheels – one is built with Enve 3.4 aero rims with 30mm tires and a 9-45 cassette. The other uses Enve G23 rims with 45mm tires and a 10-52 cassette. With a single 46T chainring, this gives suitable gearing for each type of riding, and a custom spacer on the freehub body means there is no derailleur adjustment needed when swapping between the wheels. Both wheelsets are laced onto Chris King hubs, with hubs and rims custom painted prior to assembly.

The frame features a custom headtube and headset to mate to the Allied carbon fork, an aero downtube and ovalised toptube. The chainstays are carefully shaped to maximise tire clearance, and the wishbone seatstays curve nicely around the tire.

Steve initially worked with Svelte Cycleworks, and then went through many iterations with me to get exactly the paint design he wanted. There are many small details, including a textured headtube logo and a carefully scaled subtle pattern at the bottom. Colorworks created a tube sample to ensure the colors were just right, then did a wonderful execution of the design.

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